A Moment Frozen in Time
by dansesinfernale
Summary: A drabble collection for the Bleach Diversity Writing Challenge. Encompasses all moments of time in Bleach, both past and present. Characters will change depending on who is featured in the latest drabble.
1. Chapter 1: Flickering Ghosts

A/N: So I've decided to tackle the drabble section of BDW (because I tried to write poetry but I suck at it, so.) Here will be the place where I put all these random drabbles which are too short to stand alone and such. You can find the Bleach Diversity Writing Challenge over at the Challenge Paradise: Bleach forum! c:

**Section A: 40 fics under 500 words.**

**_1\. Under 100 word drabble_**

* * *

His vision is fading bit by bit, her form blending into the air, if parts of her are turning invisible, only a slender outline in the atmosphere.

It's been like this for several months already, but he hasn't the heart to tell her that he finds it increasingly difficult to see her. Perhaps it's just a way to convince himself that it isn't happening, the loss of his powers.

So it has to be enough, just holding her like this, while she shimmers and flickers in his vision. It has to be.

* * *

_[92 words] _


	2. Chapter 2: Night Terrors

**_2\. 100 word drabble_**

The day she finally disappears, Ichigo knows that something is going to happen the moment he sits bolt upright in the middle of the night with an icy-cold shiver running up and down his spine.

He looks for Rukia, only to find her standing outside his window, looking like a ghost, rippling in the wind like she could disappear at any second.

He reaches out his hand towards her, but he is reluctant to touch her, for fear his hands might pass right through her.

And he, for the life of him, cannot understand what she is looking at.

_[exactly 100 words] _


	3. Chapter 3: An Epiphany

**A/N: **A slight change from all the IchiRuki angst that has been going on, haha! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**3\. drabble between 151-200 words**

Ulquiorra stares at his reflection in the mirror in his room, marvelling at the light-red marks which have spread over his skin and stayed there in the shape on a woman's slender hand.

The attack had been so sudden, so unexpected that his _hierro_ had had no time to form. Interesting, though. He hadn't been hit in such a long time, it was a novel sensation to him, tingling hot and cold on his skin.

Humans were so easily angered, he reflected. And upon things that did not really matter, as well. Were friends and family really so important to humans? What use were they, when they could not help or save their 'important' friend?

Turning quickly on his heel, Ulquiorra glances one more time at his reflection before walking calmly out to deliver his daily report to Aizen.

_[140 words]_


	4. Chapter 4: Love Makes Fools of Us All

A/N: And what drabble collection would be complete without one half of my favorite OT3? :) Enjoy!

* * *

**_4\. 150 word drabble_**

"I love you, captain."

He blurts out the words without thinking, a drunken haze clouding his vision and oiling his tongue, and oh, his captain's hair feels so soft and smooth under his fingers, like cotton candy, or even those thin stretched taffy candy that he once saw on an expedition to one of the European countries.

And for once, it_ is _true.

He has loved his captain ever since he set foot into the Soul Reaper Academy, and caught sight of that entrancingly flowing hair. Love, in his experience, is deadly and fatal, something to be scorned and left as a remnant of his miserable childhood.

He loves his captain far too much, which is why he has to be gotten rid of, for an important stage of his plans to continue.

"That's nice, Sosūke." his captain replies sleepily, absentmindedly stroking his own hair.

His captain has to go.

_[ exactly 150 words ]_


	5. Chapter 5: At the Crossroads

A/N: More Vizards. Because I love them 3

* * *

**5\. drabble between 151-200 words**

"I don't understand why you're doing this to the rest of us."

"I'm not doing anythin' to the rest of ya', I'm merely giving ya' an option—" Shinji said tiredly, passing a callused hand over his brow.

"It doesn't sound like an option. More like an ultimatum." Lisa cut in, laying down her magazine and turning her full attention to him.

"I'm tellin' ya', that's not what I'm aimin' for." he said, putting his hands out as a sign of surrender.

The rest of the vizards were gathered around the table with solemn faces, each slowly digesting the offer that their leader had just thrown at them so suddenly.

"Yeah sure. 'Soul Society's offered us a place back in our old places, and if you don't want to get in trouble for disobeying Central 46's orders again, you should take up the offer.'" Lisa snorted, getting up from the table.

"Hey, I didn't even put it in that way!"

"Yeah, but we all know you meant it." she shrugged, heading towards the door.

"Jesus, Lisa, don't—"

"Whatever. You go back to Soul Society. I'll take my chances with Central 46."

_[ 191 words ]_


	6. Chapter 6: Perfection

**6\. 199 word drabble**

Szayel Aporro Grantz was in hell.

Every single one of his nerves had been amplified and electrified to such a heightened extent that even a simple movement such as moving his eyeballs was excruciatingly painful, and he seemed to be in a furious daze that sent his world spinning around him, and his mind working into overdrive, things and memories that he thought were lost of forgotten suddenly coming back to him, like human memories of him and his brother, running in the forest, away from some unknown entity that filled him with fear and horror as if he were right there, experiencing it all over again.

"I loathe perfection." he recalled the hated scientist saying, before poisoning him— the very nerve of him! But now, it seemed that Szayel himself was not a perfect being at all, and this was proof of it. All those years spent perfecting and injecting his body with serums and poisons, all gone.

Perfection was something he had striven to, something that he had wanted, since he was a little boy, the same little boy running through those woods from something he didn't quite understand.

So if he wasn't perfect, who else was?

_[ 199 words exactly ] _


	7. Chapter 7: First Meetings

**7\. 200 word drabble**

"You should be more careful next time." an old man said, who was dressed in long flowing robes and had an extremely long, white beard that the young boy was strangely in awe of.

"Sou-taicho!" someone barked in worry, all but dragging the boy away from the man with the staff. "How on earth did this boy breach our formation? I want answers, now! What if an assassin was present? Look alive, you blundering idiots!"

"It's perfectly fine, Sasakibe. Nothing to worry about. I daresay more harm was done to the boy rather than to myself." Yamamoto said, brushing it away and righting the boy, who was still a little dazed.

"Now, what's your name, child?" Yamamoto lowered himself to the boy's eye level, noting that he did bear a strange resemblance to someone he once knew, quite some time ago. Perhaps it was the shock of messy black hair or the childishly apologetic frown that was on the boy's face, but he suddenly felt an inexplicable wave of sympathy for him, and wanted nothing more than to hug the young boy.

"My name is Hisagi Shuuhei, ojisan." the young boy said.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you."

_[ 200 words exactly ] _


	8. Chapter 8: Sleepovers

**8\. drabble between 201-300 words**

"I will burn you. I will burn the heart out of you." James Moriarty intoned onscreen, eliciting a bunch of giggles from four out of the five people watching the show intently.

"That's not the worst." Kira said, shaking his head. "It's probably better to leave his heart intact. That way he can probably feel all the horrible things you're going to do to him. Especially if you're attacking his friends. At least, that's what my taicho would have done." he shrugged and took a large swig of his drink.

"You think that's bad? My taicho _stabbed _me. That has to take the cake!" Momo said huffily, pointing a bolster at him. The effect was quite ruined by the fact that she was dressed in a duckling onesie.

"My taicho left me with serious trust issues. Everyone I love leaves me." Hisagi said mournfully, clinking glasses with Kira. "Well, except for Yamamoto-soutaicho. But it's hard to love someone who looks like a walking hair waterfall!" he added as an afterthought.

"Well, my boyfriend hic- left hic- me! I think that trumps all!" Rangiku hiccuped, waving vehemently to prove her point.

"That's so untrue. I loved my captain more than you loved Gin, I bet."

"Hey, I actually respected and grew stronger because of my captain, okay?"

"Please. My captain manipulated me since the first day I came under his jurisdiction."

"Do you guys really have to fight about this every time we get together?" Renji moaned, trying to watch what was happening next between Sherlock and Moriarty.

"YES WE DO!"

_[ 261 words ] _


	9. Chapter 9: Sacrifices

9\. 250 word drabble

She watches her subordinates fall in slow motion— the world now only revolves around the four of them, and there is no room for any others.

She remembers the lonely nights and silent days they spent together in what seemed an eternity ago— the three of them huddled around her and looking for her guidance and seeking for her approval, each trying to better themselves so she will notice them.

All at once, she knows how Aizen must feel.

A powerful god with so many bowing and serving him to his whim. A Messiah bringing salvation to the hordes, preaching his religion and ingraining it deeply into their minds, merciless and great, cruel and beautiful.

It is both terrifying and satisfying at the same time.

She knows that she is not a ruler— is her stay under the hand of Aizen not proof enough? But she sees that she is false to her name, her title as a ruthless sacrificer that cares not for her own subordinates. She realises that she cannot do this any longer, for she has blundered into the worst mistake a commander could make— becoming far too attached to her soldiers.

Another chilling thought strikes her: If Aizen is such a successful war-lord, did that mean that _she _was dispensable as well? It has been a thought nagging at the back of her mind, but she has never been ready to acknowledge it. She liked the feeling that she was indispensable.

It's too late now.

_[ 250 words exactly ]_


	10. Chapter 10: Second Thoughts

**10\. 300 word drabble**

"I've had enough of this!" Toshiro stormed, looking at the mess his vice-captain had made once _again, _with her wild partying ways and drinking like a fish. Surely it was bad enough that she did this _outside _of work, but did she have to bring her affairs and vices into work as well?

Surveying the mess she had left from last night— half empty sake bottles and food all over the place, not to mention several… strange items of clothing strewn all over the floor, mostly undergarments in particular. Toshiro groaned as he picked up a brightly coloured piece of lingerie rather awkwardly and tossed it in the dustbin.

He then began the task of tidying up the entire room, throwing away the empty bottles and such.

"I'm really going to do it this time." he muttered under his breath. "I'll fill out the transfer forms for real this time, and then I'm going to seal them tightly in an envelope so I can't change my mind, and then I'm going to send it to the 1st division by today. I can't be always picking up the pieces of her parties— I have paperwork to do!"

He tidied up and muttered to himself in this way, repeating the fact that he was going to send the transfer forms to himself like a mantra, over and over again so that he wouldn't forget. But then he couldn't help himself from remembering all the things he liked about her. And that he would miss. And really, who knew his favourite flavour of _amanatto_ like Matsumoto did? Not Ise-fukutaicho, for sure.

"Send the 1st division what, Captain?" a familiar voice said. Toshiro straightened, and said: "Nothing. Now please tidy up this mess at once, Matsumoto." and with that, he stalked out.

_[ 300 words exactly ] _


	11. Chapter 11: Pessimism

_1\. drabble between 301-500 words_

Izuru Kira was a pessimist.

It wasn't so much a self-imposed title than a fact of life— it was just the way he looked at things. He saw the glass half empty rather than full, and regarded sunny days with mild suspicion, just waiting for them to turn dark and gloomy at any moment.

He considered himself rather the more sane one of their little drinking group. Someone to hold down the tent when the winds started blowing too strongly. Right now at this moment, he was beginning to doubt the strength of his mind and his ability to do so.

"Look, I really don't think covering Kuchiki-taicho's house in toilet paper is going to go down very well. I mean, won't you get in trouble, Renji?"

He looked around, only to see that his friends had deserted him, and were running down to the Kuchiki mansion's grounds, letting out war-whoops even Zaraki-taicho would have been proud of.

"For god's sake." he shook his head, and took a deep gulp of his slowly emptying sake bottle. He was certainly _not _drunk enough for this yet.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!"

"What?" he threw up his hands to protect his eyes from the invading sunlight and his captain's far-too-bright hair. Wait, why was he back in his office and why did everything smell like sake? … Oh right, he'd gone out drinking again last night. These memories flooding back to him must surely have been from some dream… They couldn't have covered Kuchiki-taicho's house with toilet paper… right? Surely he'd have enough sense to put his foot down and refuse to participate, at least?

"Kuchiki-taicho is looking for you, for some reason. I managed to fend him off by saying that you were in the fourth division getting some medicine, but I don't think that excuse is going to hold for long…" his captain said, absentmindedly picking up one of the many instruments around the room and strumming its strings. "He seemed rather unusually angry. Did you do something to offend him by accident?"

"Ugh…" was all that Kira seemed to be capable of saying. His throat felt so parched that a chicken could have jumped down it and come back up alive.

"Does it have anything to do with the interesting decorations I saw all over Kuchiki-taicho's house when I passed by it this morning? It is somewhat of an improvement. I'm so glad that you're beginning to take art seriously now, Kira-chan!" Rose chirped, still strumming away.

Kira flopped back down onto his table, burying his head in his hands. He was _so dead_.

_[444 words] _


	12. Chapter 12: Sucker Punch

bleach diversity writing: section a

— 400 word drabble

sucker-punch that asshole

"Yo, Yumichika, time to wake up. You're taking this beauty sleep thing way too far, even the captain's wondering where the heck you are." Ikkaku barged into his friend's quarters, and threw open the windows to let in some sunlight.

Yumichika merely groaned and turned away from the light, burying himself deeper into the covers. He didn't even budge when Ikkaku poked him with his foot, and just let out tiny whimpers of pain.

"Dude, you've been moping for like, four days. This is so not cool. Why are you even moping?" grumbled Ikkaku, flopping down on Yumichika's bed and playing tug-of-war with the blankets.

"I told you the other day! I thought you were listening!" came Yumichika's utterly outraged voice.

"Sorry. I guess I've perfected the art of looking attentive. It's not easy, let me tell you. But, I'm listening now! Tell me again."

Yumichika huffed, but sat up in bed, taking his hair out of the loose braid it was in and grabbing the hairbrush on his bedside table. "Alright, but this is the last time I'm telling it."

"Sure, sure."

"Well, you remember that 10th Division guy I was dating?"

"Kinda. The one with the weird hair and weird face?"

"No, the one with brown hair, idiot."

"Dude, you change partners so frequently that I seriously can't keep up anymore. Blond, brown, black— they're all the same."

"Of _course_ they're different! There's Kinomoto-san, who was the one I told you about, that brought flowers instead of chocolate for our first date, even though I specifically told him not to, and then the 6th division's fifth seat, who thought that a water-fight was an appropriate date even though I told him I hate getting wet—"

"Alright, alright I get it. Now just tell me about the one that's made you all mopey before I leave you to wallow in your pig-sty."

"Will you help me defend my honour? Do you promise?" Yumichika pouted.

"Whatever makes ya' happy, princess." Ikkaku rolled his eyes.

"Well, it all started last Friday, when we were on our date…"

* * *

"Is this the man?" Ikkaku stared down at the cowering shinigami with an unforgiving glare, pinning him down by a single foot.

"That's him alright. The man who broke my heart so cruelly." Yumichika sniffed.

"Time to die, motherfucker." Ikkaku grinned, cracking his knuckles. "This ain't gonna be pretty."


End file.
